Lafourche president seeks appeal of ethics penalties

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph will argue her ethics fines were a departure from previous cases as she tries to convince judges to overturn them.

Xerxes WilsonStaff Writer

Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph will argue her ethics fines were a departure from previous cases as she tries to convince judges to overturn them. Randolph's attorney, Jerald Block of Thibodaux, said Randolph's appeal of her ethics case involving her renting her Grand Isle camp to BP following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill will likely be filed sometime this week or next in the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal in Baton Rouge.Randolph has been ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 and repay $50,000 she received for the rental. The state Ethics Board ruled the rent violated state law because the parish was in-contract with the oil giant at the time.Randolph applied for a rehearing. That application was denied, though the board reduced the original $10,000 fine by $5,000.Now, Randolph will appeal to have the findings completely overturned, Block said.“The Ethics Board has been in existence for decades. This case is an outlier. It is completely out of whack with what is done before in cases. There has never been that kind of draconian penalty on anyone,” Block said.A three-judge panel will review a transcript of the previous hearings along with written and oral arguments from Randolph's representatives and lawyers for the ethics administration before making a decision.“The process can take anywhere from three to six months,” Block said. “It could be longer and could be shorter depending on the (court's) backlog of cases.”Both sides have the opportunity to petition the Louisiana Supreme Court to hear their case after the Court of Appeal rules.Block said he will use similar arguments from the rehearing application. Block argued that Randolph's penalty as it stands will discourage people from entering public service.“The purpose of the rules an regulations of ethics is to establish compliance, not to punish,” Block said.Randolph has argued that by the strictest interpretation of the law, she could not do business with anybody the parish has a contract with. That includes hundreds of residents who have simple drainage right-of-way agreements with the parish.“I am concerned that the restrictions on this are so onerous that our hands are tied in any personal dealings,” she said.Randolph has also argued the contract with BP that caused the violation was more of a donation than contract.